Control for knitting machines



June 24, 1947. LENTZ CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed June 12, 1944 I 4 Sheets-Sheet l June 24, 1947. J. J LENTZ 2,422,738

CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed June 12, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 2 z W H .M 8 w W]: m w k f 1 J P m w wow 0% m J v M 7 W W .6 52:: U w NH H LJ M 9 i w m J. J. LENTZ 2,422,738

CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES June 24, 1947.

Filed Jupe 12, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 June 24, 1947. J. J. LE NTZ CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Jur xe 12, 1944 4 Sheets-Shae; 4

Jesse M. (emz:

glvwc/wk o Patented June 24, 1947 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES Jesse J. Lentz, Statesville, N. 0.

Application June 12, 1944, Serial No. 539,827

13 Claims.

This invention relates to a full fashioned knitting machine and more especially to means for controlling the rotation imparted to the carrier and the narrowing and widening spindles and providing means whereby during a widening operation, the widening marks will be disposed further inwardly from the selvage so as to make a better selvage and one in which runs are less likely to develop.

In full fashioned knitting machines, when the high splice is reached, the narrowing spindle is set at a certain point and the carrier spindle and narrowing spindle are moved automatically the same amount each time they are called upon to correspond to each other. When the high splice is reached, the pattern chain, not shown, sets in motion certain mechanism to move a cam under a horizontally pivoted arm to raise and lower a vertically reciprocable member for each narrowing or widening operation. The narrowing spindle has oppositely threaded portions, not shown, by which two sets of narrowing points are moved. In narrowing in, the narrowing wheels are ratcheted usually two notches at a time in a clockwise manner looking at the left-hand end of the machine and the present invention is not in use.

When narrowing out or widening is to take place, to form the heel pockets, a certain control bar 83 is raised out of a holding notch 84 and moved to another notch 85 and this allows the front dog 55 for the narrowing spindle to engage the endmost or outer narrowing ratchet 34 and the front dog 61 for the carrier spindle and dog 6| for the inner ratchet wheel 35 for the narrowing spindle are out of engagement with the ratchets and a couple of other dogs 66 and H are engaging the outermost ratchet on the narrowing spindle, and one dog engages the inner ratchet on the carrier spindle. This allows certain of the dogs to ratchet the spindles one tooth at a time in an upward movement of the ratcheting mechanism and the other dog on the down ward movement to ratchet the narrowing spindle one tooth, thus giving a two tooth movement to the narrowing and widening spindle. When a certain washer which I have provided is in operation, and this washer is reached by one of the dogs, the narrowing spindle is not ratcheted by the dog on its downward movement; but is ratcheted by the other dog on the upward movement. The purpose of this is to cause the narrowing points to move into where three points engage the three outer needles instead of just the two outer needles. This moves the widening marks inwardly one more Wale further from the selvage than where only two of the narrowing points engage the two outer wales of the work. This gives a better selvage than where the narrowing marks present are only two wales from the selvage and prevents the occurrence of runs emanating from the narrowing marks. This operation of keeping the narrowing marks three wales in from the selvage continues as long as narrowing out or widening continues during the heel pocket or any other place in thestocking where it might be employed, and it occurs every two courses. When it is desired to change the narrowing out or widening to where the narrowing points engage only the two outer needles, then I provide a certain pin in the outer ratchet wheel on the narrowing spindle which comes into operation and is engaged by a dog which ratchets the narrowing spindle two notches on the downward movement of its dog after another dog has ratcheted the narrowing spindle one notch on the upward movement which makes three notches in all, amounting to one notch by one dog and two notches by the other. This puts the narrowing points back to where only two of the narrowing points cover the work, and this continues until the heel pocket is finished.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide means for ratcheting the narrowing spindle and the carrier spindle in a full fashioned knitting machine whereby the narrowing marks can be moved inwardly further from the selvage as the widening starts, and continue this holding of the narrowing marks inwardly from the selvage a further distance than is customarily employed so as to provide a better selvage until the widening has progressed to a certain point, at which time, if desired, the widening process can be changed so as to place thewidening marks nearer the selvage if desired.

This apparatus is shown on the left-hand end of the machine, but it is evident that the other end will be equipped with like mechanism.

Many of the parts above-referred to are not shown in the present drawings, but the mechanism is adapted to be associated with a Reading knitting machine as disclosed in patents numbered 1,895,777; 1,941,296; 2,005,461; and 2,109,- 140, which show the details of raising and lowering the vertically reciprocable member for moving the dogs upwardly and allowing them to move downwardly for the ratcheting operation.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation of the left-hand end of a Reading full-fashioned knitting machine looking inwardly at the machine and showing only the upper portion thereof and the mechanism associated with the carrier spindle and the narrowing and widening spindle;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the mechanism shown in Figure 1 and looking from the righthand side of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional iew through one of the housings or barrels having means for holding the carrier spindle or narrowing and widening spindle in stationary position;

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the "narrowing spindle and ratchets thereon, omitting the housing and stop for engaging the top of the middle disc for holding the narrowing and. widening spindle in stationary position;

Figuredisan end'elevation of the upper righthand: portion of. igure 1 showing the ratchets associated'with the narrowing. and. widening spindle and she ing portions thereof, broken away for the sake of clearness;

Figure? is anv end, elevation similar to Figure 6, but showin the. ratcheting wheel in a position diiferent from that "showrrin Figure 6;

Figure, 3 is a. View similar to Figure 7, but showingfthe narrowing, andv widening spindle in ajdifi erentposition;

ngursaisa viewsimilarto F ure 8 but showing the narrowing and widening spindle instill another position; w

Eigiire l0gis'an elevation ofv themechanism on the narrowing, andwidening. spindle;

Eigure llis afv'iewsimilar to. Figure 10, but s wing. thegpart in a different position.

Refer'ringmore sneoificallyto the drawings, the numeral 2i} indi'cates a vertically recipro'cable member which isj moved in an up and. down rela' tion bythle' swinging lever driven by th e cam as previously described. This member has fixedly secured thereto a plate 2 'by'ineans ofbolts 22 andshouldere d bolts 23 and 25., Near the front' end of this plate 2 therejis securedshouldered bolt 25; "I'hemember 2D has an upstanding portion' iii 'whi'c'h na'spivotsnysegu q theretoas at 2 i a connecting link 2-8 whose upper end is pivotally s'e'cured'as'at 29 'to an arm 30 projecting from "an oscillating hub 31 mou'ntedon the nar rowing and widening spindle 321' "Thenarrowing andlwidening spindle has fixedly secured'thereon astop disk 33, and fixedly secured to the stop disk 33 are rathet wheels 34- and 35, the'teeth of theseratchet wheels being in opposite directions one from theother. Integral with the hub 3 l. is an upstanding arm 36-which has a barrel or housing 3! in which is slidably mountedva plunger 33 The plunger as has. a cross pin. 39. Which is adapted to slide in vertically disposed slots do disposed inthe side walls of thebarrel or, housing 3l This plunger 3 8 has its lower end beveled and. is adapted .to engage the notches in the periphery of thestop wheel 3to releasably hold,

it alposition to which it is moved by the ratch etiri'g mechanism; to be later described. The arm 3Q hasafpairofupstanding ears 42 in which is pivotallyimounted'a lever'43 the left-hand of: the lever ,inFigure'Z or the front end ofthe samein Figure 1 beingforkedand being adapted toslid ably fit aroundthe pin38 and below the headion the upper end,thereof.v This lever 4 3 is normally 4 pressed downwardly by means of a spring 45 secured at its lower end to a portion of the arm 36 and is secured at its upper end to the lever 43, and loosely fitting in a vertically disposed hole in the arm 36. If desired, an additional holddown spring mechanism can be provided by welding an arm as at one end to the lever 33 and having a tension spring 5i connected to the free end thereof with the lower end of the tension spring 5! being connected to spring perch 52 projecting from thefront of the barrel 37.

If desired, instead of having the spring arrangement as shown in Figure 2, this may be' dispensed with and a plug may be threadably secured in the lower end of the barrel 3"! and being. Slidably. penetrated by the lower end of this plunger, 38 which may have a transverse pin 53 therethrough and surrounded by a compression spring 5i. The upper end of the barrel 3'! is restricted, and this confines the compression spring 5? against upward movement when the pin orpl ungertflfis moved upwardly by swinging of lever 331' The stop wheel 33 has peripheralnotchesnu nbored 1 to 14 inc'lu sive thereon with a notch between each one of the numbered notches which represents a half of a" notch, or there aretwenty eightnotches in all in. wheel 33 which are adapted to be engaged by the lower end of the plunger 38. The hub 3,! has also projecting therefrom an arm which has pivotally secured on the free end, thereof a dog BI, and this dog fil has a downwardly: projecting portion 62 to which is pivotally secured a link 63.

The plate 2! has pivot'ally secured thereto dogs 6-5, as, sneer. The dog s5 is biased by spring 62' to engage the teeth ofratchet wheel 34. The other end of this spring 68 is connected to dog 65 to. cause it to move toward the other side of the ratchet wheel 34. The dogfifi has fixed thereon as at another dog. I I. One end of the spring 681s connected to dog 65 and the other end of. the spring (is isconnect ed to dog 66. The dog'fit' has, a projection 66d which prevents the dog from engaging the uppermost tooth in the ratchet wheel M which is on a level with the hook in" the dog, but'as the member 2ll is lowered, this projection slides off the point of a tooth andallows} the hook toengage thenext tooth therebelow, Theratchet wheel 34 has a pin 15 projecting from the face thereof andalso-has a washer 16 having a slot ll" and a notch to be secured on the face or the of a set screw 1-91 The washer doesnot interfere with dog 65 engaging the teeth of the ratchet wheel 34, but it 8f and a e i 3 by e ns will beobservedfin Figures 3- a'nd5 that dog 66 is broaderthan dog 05 and washer 16 Willprevent dog. 66from. engaging the shielded notch in the ratchet wheel3 4=- p Fixedly secured. to an oscillatable shaft. 8,!) which. is a conventionalpart of the machine is a conventionalarm Bil: andto the lower end of arm 8!, there ispivotally secured as at 82a link 8 3 which projects forwardly through the apparatus and has a pairofnotches BA and 8fl5 therein. This 1111s 3 hesa ie ne an e. i 86; for ma. nipulating the same. Fixedly secured on member 2| bymeansof bolt 251 a bracket 8-7 having a pin 88 projecting laterally therefrom which is apted o fi ane o t notches. 84 Or 85, as desired,

e. in 83 has. fixe ly ecured h eto a m .whi hrroie supwa dly infront of. the ratchet. wheelandstop Wheel l'nechanism disposed on the carrier spindle, not shown, butthe front end of the same is covered by an operating crank 92, this crank 92 having serrations therein adapted to engage serrations such as 93 shown on the narrowing. and widening spindle for setting, the carrier spindle. A crank or setting member is loosely mounted on both the carrier spindle and the narrowing and widening spindle, and is omitted in Figure 1 as to the narrowing and widening spindle for the sake of clearness.

The link 63 projects rearwardly in the machine or to the left in Figure 1, and is connected to the downwardly projecting arm 62a on a dog 6la which is somewhat shorter than the dog 6| for the narrowing and widening spindle. The dog 6|a has a pin 95 therein which is adapted to be engaged. by the fixed member 99 on link 83 to disengage it from its associated ratchet wheel when the bar 83'is moved to the left in Figure 1. As to the carrier spindle, the front and rear ratchet wheels, the stop wheel, and the means disposed above the stop wheel for holding the stop wheel in releasable position are identical to that described with relation to the narrowing and widening spindle, except the wheels have only one-half the number of notches therein, and like reference characters will apply with the prime notation added. The dog 61 is normally pressed toward its associated ratchet wheel by means of a tension spring 96 whose other end is secured to the rigid member 90, and this dog 61 is adapted to be pulled to a position where it will not engage the inner ratchet wheel on the carrier spindle by means of a pin 91 projecting from the rear face of the link 83, as shown in Figure 1. The link 83 is biased to move downwardly at all times, not only by gravity but by a tension spring 98 whose upper end is secured to the bar 83 and whose lower end is secured to the bar 2|. The hub portion of the dog 66 has fixedly secured thereto an arm 99 which projects downwardly and forwardly and has a laterally bentportion 99a. Bar 83 has fixedly secured thereto a rigid rod I60 whose lower end projects downwardly to the rear of the surface of the laterally bent portion 99a of the bar or rod 99. The bar 100 serves to pivot the dog 66 to where neither the dog 66 nor the dog H will engage the ratchet wheel 34 nor the pin projecting therefrom when the link 83 is set so that its notch 84 is surrounding the pin 88, but in the position shown in Figure 1, the rod H16 is moved backwardly far enough to allow the dogs 65, B6, and H to engage the ratchet wheel 34 and pin 15 respectively.

The bar 83 has a pin I92 which is adapted to engage the dog 65 when the link 83 is pulled all theway to the right in Figure 1, and this will pull the dog 65 out to where in the up and down reciprocation of member 20, the dog 65 will not engage its ratchet wheel 34. At the same time, the arm I06 will engage the laterally extending portion 990. or arm 99 and will pivot dog 66 which also carries dog H, in a counter-clockwise manner in Figure 1, and will move these two dogs to a position where they also will not engage ratchet wheels 34. At the same time, the moving to the right in Figure 1 of link 83 will cause the member 90 to move to the right, and then will allow the dog Bio and dog 6|, they being connected by link 63, to both engage the rear ratchet wheels on the narrowing and carrier spindles.

Method of operation shown in Figure 1.

6 a notch in stop wheel 33 at any position to allow a predetermined number of courses to be knitted before the narrowing points are moved inwardly relative to the selvage, or the parts may be in the position as shown in Figure 1. The link 83 .is moved rearwardly of the machine, or to the position shown in Figure 1 where notch 85 will be resting on pin 88, Knitting then proceeds. When a widening operation is called for, with the parts in the position as shown in Figure 1, that is with the vertically reciprocable member 20 and its associated dogs in lowered position, upon the first upward movement of the vertically reciprocable member, the dog 65 which is not affected by washer 16 will ratchet wheel 34 one notch and will lower pin 15 one notch from the position Upon the downward return movement of the vertically reciprocable member 29, the dog 66 will engage the ratchet wheel and move it an additional tooth, or it will bring the pin 15 down two notches to the left from the position shown in Figure 1. Upon the next upward movement of the member 26, the dog 65 will ratchet the wheel 34 an additional notch which will bring pin 15 down to three notche from the position shown in Figure 1, or to the position shown in Figure 10. In Figure 10, the member 20 is infully raised position and dogs 66 and H are in raised position, and there it is seen that the pin having been moved downwardly one notch further than the total height to which the dogs 66 and llv are raised, upon downward movement of the member 20, the dog H will not engage the pin 15 until the downward stroke is half completed and the shoulder 66a on the dog 66 will, as the member 26 moves downwardly, allow the upper end of the dog 66 to move in towards the ratchet wheel 34 and engage the face of the tooth immediately above the pin 15 in Figure 10. Ratcheting will continue by one tooth on upward movement and one tooth on downward movement of the member 29 until the washer 16 reaches the position shown in Figure 8. Due to the fact that dog 66 is broader than the ratchet wheel 34 and therefore will engage washer 16, the washer 16 will prevent the dog 66 from engaging the tooth of the ratchet wheel shielded by the Washer 16 and therefore, the narrowing spindle will not be ratcheted by the downward movement of the member 20. The dog 66 is shown in raised position in Figure 8 ready to move downwardly. The failure to ratchet the narrowing spindle by the downward movement of the dog 66 in Figure 8 on account of its being shielded by washer 16 will cause the narrowing points to be disposed two needles closer to each other, or one needle further inwardly from the selvage on each side of'the fabric being knitted. On the next upward movement of the dog, dog 65 will ratchet the wheel 34 one notch and this will move the tooth shielded by washer 16 one notch further downwardly to the position shown in Figure 9 where the dog 66 has already engaged the next notch above the washer so as to ratchet the wheel 34 an additional notch upon downward movement of the dog- 66. The narrowing spindle is ratcheted one notch from the upward movement of the dogs and one notch upon downward movement of the dogs until the pin 15 is moved around to where it is ready to be engaged by the dog H and due to the fact that pin '15 has fallen one notch behind on account of the shielding of one of the notches by washer 16 against movement of the ratchet wheel by dog 66, and as the pin 15 approaches a position to be engaged by dog H, upon upward movement of the vertically reciprocable member 20, the parts will occupy the position shown in Figure 11, and here it is seen that the lower surface of the notch at the upper end of the dog H isdisposed immediately above the pin 15 and upon the next downward movement of the reciprocable member 20, the ratchet wheel 34 will be moved two notches. This will place the narrowing points back in their original position, or move them two needle further apart from each other thanthey have been operated, or so that they will engage only the two outer needles to form the fashioning marks in the original position, namely, two wales from the selvage.

While I have shown and described the apparatus only on one end of the machine, it is to be understood that the same structure is on the other end of the machine, except that the parts are opposite hand and the direction of rotation of the spindles would be the reverse of that for the left-hand end. I

Wherever in the specification and claims I have used the term narrowing spindle, it is intended to embrace the spindle for narrowing and widening. The term narrowing out is intended to also mean widening.

In the drawings and specifications, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. In a full-fashioned knitting machine having a narrowing and widening spindle provided with a ratchet wheel and a vertically reciprocable member having means for engaging the ratchet wheel upon its upward movement and moving it one notch and havin other means for engaging the wheel upon downward movement of said member and moving it one notch in the same direction as first moved, means on the wheel for shielding one notch of the wheel and preventing its being moved upon downward movement of the reciprocable member by said other means but allowing the wheel to be moved upon the upward movement of the reciprocable member by the first means, the wheel having a projection thereon adapted to be engaged by said other means upon downward movement of the member to movethe wheel two notches.

2. In a full-fashioned knitting machine having a narrowing spindle and a carrier spindle, each spindle having inner and outer ratchet Wheels thereon, a vertically reciprocable. member, a dog for engaging and moving the inner ratchet wheel on the narrowing spindle, a dog for engaging and moving the outer ratchet wheel on the carrier spindle, a link connecting the two dogs together for simultaneous movement, means connecting the dogs to the vertically reciprocable member, front and rear dogs mounted on the reciprocable member for engaging opposed peripheral portions of the outer ratchet wheel on the narrowing spindle, a dog mounted on the vertically reciprocable member for engaging the front peripheral. portion of the inner ratchet wheel on the carrier spindle, movable means settable in one position to allow all dogs except the two first-named dogs to engage their respective ratchet wheels, and settable in another position to prevent all dogs except the first two-named dogs from engaging their respective ratchet wheels, means on the outer ratchetwheel on the narrowing spindle for preventing a dog upon downward movement of the reciprocable member from engaging a tooth on its associated ratchet wheel but allowing 1 movement of the ratchet wheel upon upward movement of the reciprocable member, other means on the outer ratchet wheel on the narrowing spindle adapted'to be engaged by a dog on downward movement of said'member to move the ratchet wheel on the narrowing spindle two notches. I

3; In a full fashioned knitting machine having a. narrowing spindle and a pair of sets oi narrowing points, vertically reciprocable meansfor moving the spindle one step on the upstroke of the vertically reciprocable member and to move the spindle another step on the downward movement. of the vertically reciprocable member, means for preventing movement of the spindle on the downstroke but permitting its movement onthe upstroke of the reciprocable means, means operable upon the downward stroke of the reciprocable means, after same has moved upwardly to'move' the spindle one step, to move the spindle two steps upon the'next downward stroke.

4. Ina full-fashioned knitting machine having a narrowing spindle provided with a ratchet Wheel fixed thereon, said knitting machine having a front dog and a rear dog pivoted at their lower ends and having, their upper ends adapted to engage the ratchet wheel to move the spindle, the front dog engaging the ratchet wheel upon upward movement of the vertically reciprocable member and the rear dog engaging and moving the ratchet wheel upon downward movement of the vertically reciprocable member, a shield membersecured on the ratchet wheel and guarding onetooth of the ratchet wheel against engagement by the, rear dog upon downward movement of the rear dog to thus position the narrowing points on each side of the fabric being knitted one needle further inwardly, the ratchet wheel having a pin projecting from the face thereof andso positioned that upon upwardmovement of the vertically'reciprocable member after a predetermined number of courses have been knitted, the front dog will move the wheel one tooth and the rear dog will engage said pin and move the wheel two teeth, to thus move the narrowing points oneneedle outwardly.

5. In a full fashi'oned knitting machine having a carrier spindle and a narrowing spindle and narrowing points and each spindle having a stop wheel thereon and each stop-wheel having ratchet wheels secured on opposed faces thereof, the

pitch of the teeth in one ratchet wheel beingopposed to the pitch in the other ratchet wheel associated with each of the spindles, a Vertically reciprocable member having a pair' of dogs thereon for engaging opposed peripheral portions of the outer ratchet wheel on the narrowing spindle and having a dog thereon for engaging the inner ratchet wheel on the carrier spindle,

said" spindles having hubs rotatably mounted thereon and a dog on the hub for engaging the cause the dogs on the hubs to ratchet the spin dles in one direction, the outerratchet wheel on the narrowing spindle having a washer secured thereon for shielding one tooth of the ratchet wheel from engagement by a downwardly moving dog, a pin projecting from another portion of the face of the last-named ratchet wheel, the downwardly moving dog having an additional dog thereon for engaging said pin, whereby upon downward movement of the reciprocable member, the additional dog will engage the said pin and ratchet the narrowing spindle for two additional notches, whereby the narrowing points will be moved one point outwardly.

6. In a full-fashioned knitting machine having a narrowing spindle provided with outer and inner ratchet wheels secured thereto and having their teeth in opposed relation one to the other, a vertically reciprocable member having a'pair of dogs thereon for engaging opposed sides of the outer ratchet wheel, one dog engaging the outer ratchet and rotating the same the distance of one tooth upon upward movement of the reciprocable member and the other dog engaging the ratchet wheel and advancing the same one tooth upon return downward movement of the reciprocable member, said outer ratchet wheel having a washer secured on its outer surface for shielding one tooth of the ratchet wheel and preventing its being moved by downward movement of the reciprocable member to cause the two sets of narrowing points to be disposed one point inwardly, said outer ratchet wheel having a pin projecting from the face thereof and so positioned that after a predetermined number of courses have been knitted, the other dog will engage the pin and move the ratchet wheel'two teeth upon the return downward movement of the reciprocable member to thus cause the narrowing points to be disposed one point outwardly on each side of the fabric.

'7. In a full-fashioned knitting machine for knitting stocking blanks having a selvage on each edge thereof and; having a pair of sets of narrowing points and also having means for moving the narrowing points outwardly from each other a predetermined amount in a widening operation, means for moving the pair of sets of narrowing points outwardly from each other a distance equal to one-half of their normal movement to cause them to engage more needles of the machine, which are knitting for a predetermined number of courses and means for again moving the pair of sets of narrowing points apart from each other at a rate of one-half more than their normal rate of movement to engage less needles in the knitted portion of the blank, whereby the fashion marks will be disposed farther from the selvages of the blank being knitted for said predetermined number of courses.

8. In a full-fashioned knitting machine for knitting a stocking blank having a selvage on each edge thereof and having a narrowing and widening spindle for controlling the two sets of narrowing and widening points as employed in -a full-fashioned knitting machine, said spindle having a ratchet wheel secured thereon and a vertically reciprocable member having front and rear dogs for engaging the opposed sides of the ratchet wheel to normally ratchet the narrowing spindle one notch upon upward movement of the member by means of the front dog engaging the ratchet wheel and for moving the narrowing spindle one notch in the same direction bydownward movement of the rear dog, the rear dog having a hook associated therewith said ratchet in a widening operation wardly relative to the wheel having a washer secured thereon to prevent the rear dog from entering a selected tooth of the ratchet wheel and having a pin thereon spaced around the periphery of the ratchet wheel a predetermined distance from the washer and adapted to be engaged by said hook to move the ratchet wheel two notches, the failure of the rear dog to move the ratchet wheel on account of a tooth being guarded by the washer causing the narrowing points tobe disposed one wale farther inwardly from each side of the fabric being knitted at which point the narrowing points will continue to contact the same number of needles until the narrowing spindle is ratcheted to where the pin will be engaged by the hook on the downwardly moving rear dog to move the ratchet wheel two notches after it has been moved upwardly one notchby the front dog to move the narrowing points one point outselvage edge of the fabric.

9. In a full-fashioned knitting machine having a narrowing and Widening spindle provided with a ratchet wheel and a vertically reciprocable member having means for engaging the ratchet wheel upon its upward movement and moving it one notch and having other means for engaging the ratchet wheel upon downward movement of said member and moving it one notch in the same direction as first moved, means on the wheel for shielding one notch of the wheel and preventing its being moved upon downward movement of the reciprocable member by said other means but allowing the wheel to be moved upon the upward movement of the reciprocable member by the first means.

10. In a full-fashioned knitting machine having a narrowing spindle and a carrier spindle, each spindle having inner and outer ratchet wheels thereon, a vertically reciprocable member, a dog for engaging and moving the inner ratchet wheel on the narrowing spindle, a dog for engaging and moving the outer ratchet wheel on the carrier spindle, a link connecting the two dogs together for simultaneous movement, means connecting the dogs to the vertically reciprocable member for engaging opposed peripheral portions of the outer ratchet Wheel on the narrowing spindle, a dog mounted on the vertically reciprocable member for engaging the front peripheral portion of the inner ratchet wheel on the carrier spindle, a pair of dogs mounted on the vertically reciprocable member for engaging opposed portions of the outer ratchet wheel on the narrowing spindle, movable means settable in one position to allow all dogs except the two first named dogs to engage their respective ratchet wheels, and settable in another position to prevent all dogs except the first two-named dogs fromengaging'their respective ratchet wheels, means on the outer ratchet wheel on the narrowing spindle for preventing a dog upon downward movement of the reciprocable member from engaging a tooth on its associated ratchet wheel but allowing movement of the ratchet wheel upon upward movement of the reciprocable member.

11. In. a full-fashioned knitting machine having a narrowing spindle provided with a ratchet wheel fixed thereon, said knitting machine having a front dog and a rear dog pivoted at their lower ends and having their upper ends adapted to engage the ratchet wheel to move the spindle, the front dog engaging the ratchet wheel upon upward movement of the vertically reciprocable member and the rear dog engaging and moving the ratchet wheel upon downward movement of the vertically reciprocable member, a shield member secured on the ratchet wheel and guarding one tooth of the ratchet wheel against engagement by the rear dog upon downward movement of the rear dog to thus position the narrowing points on each side of the fabric being knitted one needle further inwardly.

12. In a full-fashioned knitting machine having a carrier spindle and a narrowing spindle and narrowing points and each spindle having a stop wheel thereon and each stop wheel having ratchet wheels secured on opposed faces thereof, the pitch of the teeth in one ratchet wheel being opposed to the pitch in the other ratchet wheel associated with each of the spindles, a vertically reciprocable member having a pair of dogs thereon for engaging opposed peripheral portions of the outer ratchet wheel on the narrowing spindle and having a dog thereon for engaging the inner ratchet wheel on the carrier spindle, said spindles each having a hub rotatably mounted thereon and a dog on the hub on the narrowing spindle for engaging the inner ratchet wheel on the narrowing spindle and the hub on the carrier spindle having a dog thereon for engaging the outer ratchet wheel on the carrier spindle, a link connecting the two dogs on said hubs for unitary movement, a link having one end secured to the vertically reciprocable member and having its other end connected to one of the hubs so that upward movement of the vertically reciprocable member will cause the dogs on the hubs to ratchet the spindles in one direction, the outer ratchet wheel on the carrier spindle having a washer secured thereon for shield- 5 ing one tooth of the ratchet wheel from engagement by a downwardly moving dog.

13. In a full-fashioned knitting machine having a narrowing and widening spindle for controlling the two sets of narrowing and widening points as employed in. a full-fashioned knittingmachine, said spindle having a ratchet wheel secured thereon and a vertically reciprocable member having front and rear dogs for engaging the opposed sides of the ratchet Wheel to normally ratchet the narrowing spindle one notch upon upward movement of the member by means of the front dog engaging the ratchet wheel and for moving the narrowing spindle one notch in the same direction by downward movement of the rear dog, said ratchet wheel having a Washer secured thereon to prevent the rear dog from entering a selected tooth of the ratchet wheel.

JESSE J. LENTZ.

REFERENCES ClTED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,895,777 Zwicky Jan. 31, 1933 1,941,296 Gastrich Dec. 26, 1933 2,005,461 Gastrich June 18, 1935 2,109,140 Richter et al Feb. 22, 1938 2,198,559 Held Apr. 23, 1940 1,943,178 Heinitz Jan. 9, 1934 2,385,672 Woodcock Sept. 25, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 139,073 Germany Mar. 12, 1903 

